Greenpeace Is Due Reparations

September 26, 1985

contemptible. The location chosen for carrying it out was an insult to a sovereign nation. And the aftermath made a sorry situation worse.

When French intelligence agents blew up a ship operated by the anti-nuclear Greenpeace movement in Auckland, New Zealand, they launched a scenario of cold-blooded irresponsibility and government mendacity that guaranteed embarrassment abroad and political repercussions at home.

The Rainbow Warrior was the flagship in a Greenpeace campaign to prevent France from conducting nuclear tests in the South Pacific. One man died when it was sunk. Two French nationals were arrested after the sinking and charged with arson and murder.

After denying any role in the bombing for more than two months, Laurent Fabius, France`s premier, confessed that the attack had been carried out by Frenchmen acting under orders.

Where those orders came from is a question that still hasn`t been answered. To pull off such a bold blunder, the bombers had to have the approval of powerful backers. The political fortunes of President Francois Mitterrand, who has tried to keep his distance from the fiasco, will suffer as the trail of deceptions leads toward his government`s upper echelons.

In one more unsavory development, Paul Quiles, newly appointed defense minister, has announced that ``essential documents`` related to the July 10 attack are missing from files of the General Directorate for External Security, the French secret service.

The grudging retreat from untruths is a blot on Mitterrand`s leadership that can only grow darker. France owes New Zealand and peaceful anti-nuclear protesters apologies and reparations.

The longer the facts are concealed, the higher the cost. For confirmation of that political fact of life, Mitterrand need only check with Richard Nixon.